COPO disassembly
 

Hey everyone, while alot of guys are heading off to the SCR I am home taking my COPO apart for restoration. Found a great surprise under the front seat...a third build sheet https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif..life is good. Heres a pic.

ALbert

Re: COPO disassembly
 

Is Galdi Irish?..if not,you must have a Horseshoe up your ***. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: COPO disassembly
 

Cool find Al, but I've always been under the impression that a build sheet was being referenced by line workers until a car reached it's final stages of assemby, when sometimes it would be tossed inside the car, glued behind a door panel, tucked under seat springs etc. What seems odd is that it's pretty clear in your pic, that at least this one particular build sheet was actually hog ringed right to the seat springs apparently at the time the seats were covered. Were Chevelle seats actually upholstered at the factory? I always assumed they would have been covered by an outside source and shipped to the assembly lines as complete units ready to install. Apparently that's not the case or your car's build sheet wouldn't have ended up with a hog ring through it. Has anyone else found build sheets in their cars that were hog ringed right to the seat covers like this? Seems odd to me, and definitely interesting to note. Al, have you managed to free it and compare it to your other 2 sheets yet? Post some pics of the info on it when you get a chance. Good luck on the rest of your project.

Re: COPO disassembly
 

My '68 Chevy II L79 had the build sheet hog ringed to the rear seat cushion in virtually an identical manner. Nice find, Al. Congratulations.

-Jon

1967 Z28 street car
1967 Z28 Trans-Am race car
1967 Z28 Registry

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I found a similiar build sheet in my 70 LS-5 Chevelle, but in the back seat..also hog ringed in! A baltimore car as well. Time to play the lottery https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif.

ALbert

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Oddly enough...I found on hog ringed in a 64 Impala !!!

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Supercar_Kid;

Here is a small history on these sheets. There are Fisher Body buildsheets and there are Chevrolet Assembly buildsheets. Technically called Broadcast sheets. The sheets found in the seats or anywhere else in the interior are most always Fisher Body sheets.

When a car was added to the daily order of run these sheets were broadcast to stations all over the plant (either Fisher side or Chevrolet side). They were then pulled off the printer and used to pick or assemble parts. They sometimes stayed with the part as it was installed on the car.

The Fisher Body sheets like the one found above were used to tell the seat assembler what order the cars were coming down the line. He then built the proper trim style seat and left the sheet in the seat as he put in the rack that went to the line. The guy on the line installing seats used the tag to identify what car to put the seat in. Alas, when the rack holding the seats was filled with all of the same trim style the worker usually did not take time to find the exact seat destined for the car. He took whichever one was closest. That is why it is common to find Fisher Body sheets for another car attached to your seats.

On full frame cars (or sub frame cars build in a plant with full frame cars) it is common to find Chevrolet sheets on top of the gas tank. As the full frame car rolled down the line the sheet taped on top of the gas tank served as a ready reference to the line worker. On cars build in a sub frame only plant the Chevrolet sheets were taped to the firewall.

There are two types for Chevrolet sheets. One was for the Body and one was for the Chassis. Later they were combined into one sheet. In the early 70's as Fisher was absorbed into Chevrolet Assembly the Fisher sheets became card tags or were eliminated in favor of the Chevrolet sheet.

Now each assembly plant was run different. Willow Run HARDLY ever left a Chevrolet sheet in a Nova. Matter of fact I have never heard of a Chevrolet sheet found before 1970. Novas build in Van Nuys in 1973 and later have a good chance of them being on top of the gas tank. Chevelles build in one plant used a different style Chevrolet sheet than car built in other plants the same year.

If anyone has a Fisher Body or a Chevrolet body or Chassis sheet for a Nova especially from a 1968 0r a 1969, please let me know.

Greg Roberts

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The most Buildsheets I have ever heard or seen found in one car,is 7,in a 1970 Chevelle SS.

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I found a similiar build sheet in a 69 Nova, but in the back seat..also hog ringed in!
Fisher Body sheets https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

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I have the broadcast sheet as well or at least most of it. Enought to see the important parts. It was on the floor of the car under the carpet.

ALbert

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Curious..What number is printed on the very bottom right of each of your 3 buildsheets?
It should be incapsulated by a bunch of perforated holes.
Like the letter C.

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Greg;
Here is a Fisher Body card that I found in my LA Camaro. It lists a few options as well as the Body number and color and trim. I have not found any other sheets anywhere in the car, but then again, I have not disassembled it to go looking. I did check under the carpets and rear seats and was told the gas tank had been out of the car but no sheet was ever found.
Bill

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Rick, of the two I have out of the car already, neither one has any numbers in the right hand corner https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif. WHen I cut the hog ring and remove the third we'll see if it is there although I beleve they were carbon type copies so it may not be there as well.Was this a 70 or 69 thing?? I will be cutting it out later today.

ALbert

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Thanks for the info Greg, very informative. The Fisher Body/Chevrolet sheet distinction makes it all much clearer to me now. But a Fisher Body sheet won't tell you anything about engine and chassis components correct...just a body or job# and a interior trim style. It's the Chevrolet sheet that is integral in confirming or disconfirming a car's drivetrain components then. The only build sheet I've been lucky enough to personally discover, was a full Chevrolet sheet w/ all option codes spray glued to the backside of a Baltimore built '70 SS396 Chevelle door panel. The only rub was that it was on a used door panel I picked up at a swap meet and the car was long gone. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif I would imagine Fisher sheets are much more common to find as they would most likely be the ones left inside a vehicle and away from the elements? Does anyone know if it is common to find a build sheet glued to the backside of a door panel like this on Baltimore built Chevelles?

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------Way back when I was getting "Red Alert" re-readied for the drag-strip in 1990 I pulled the drivers seat out to get a small seam seperation fixed. When we turned the seat upside down there was the full build sheet stuffed in-between the springs. Upon removing it we found that the build sheet was for a car 5 serial numbers off, a convertable to boot! Your explanation of the reason why is the best I have heard. Thanks for answering a very old question............Bill S

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Among the 7 plants that built the Chevelles,it is more common to find a buildsheet on the backside doorpanel of a Baltimore built Chevelle.Kansas Leeds plant was more into stuffing them into the rear seat pad,but some found them behind the door panel too.Arlington liked the garbage Can mostly,but did send a few of them out with them under the carpet.
Bottom line,"Search Everywhere!" https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif

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Greg, My 68 Gibb-Harrell Nova had one hog ringed in the right top corner in the back seat. Kim https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

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Friend of mines 69 Nova SS had one hog ringed in the upper rear seat as well (drivers side)

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On my green '67 Z, I found the Fisher seat tag like the one posted above and the body number was for another car. Greg's explanation makes a lot of sense. My car was supposed to have headrest buckets but they didn't get installed. The car came with the headrests but no slot in the buckets to install them. The car is very close to the end of production (less than 60 cars from the end) so maybe they were just using up what was left. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif The sales invoice shows a credit for the headrests although the window sticker and cowl tag show the headrests. In the same car, I found a big sheet under the front carpet called a Uniform Option Identification Tag. It basically deciphered all the codes on the cowl tag including the ones to show the Z28 option and the headrest seats. I have heard of these UOITs being above the headliners and even sandwiched between the metal in the roof sail panel area. These must have been Fisher Body sheets and could be literally anywhere in the car from the firewall on back.

-Jon

1967 Z28 street car
1967 Z28 Trans-Am race car
1967 Z28 Registry

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[ QUOTE ]
Arlington liked the garbage Can mostly,but did send a few of them out with them under the carpet.


[/ QUOTE ]

I was lucky enough that my Arlington built LS5 70 Velle had a build sheet. It must have been under the carpet cause it was badly soiled but still readable.

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Frank,
By badly soiled do you mean stained from the Asphalt sound deadner?
If so the tar stains are easily removed.

Re: COPO disassembly
 

[ QUOTE ]
Frank,
By badly soiled do you mean stained from the Asphalt sound deadner?
If so the tar stains are easily removed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would be interested to hear how you would remove the tar stains. My UOIT sheet has stains on it from laying on the asphalt sound deadener.

-Jon

1967 Z28 street car
1967 Z28 Trans-Am race car
1967 Z28 Registry

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Here is what I did to remove the stains from mine.
I tried many different cleaners on a build sheet that didn't matter and figured out what worked best.
I used a quick paint thinner from the paint shop.
It is what we use to clean paint guns.
What I did was to lay down a stack of about 5 paper towels and put the build sheet on top of it ...face down.
Then I poured some thinner into a jar and from the jar I liberally poured the thinner over the back of the build sheet(there was alot of thinner). Then I took another paper towel and bunched it up into a wad and blotted the back of the build sheet (do not rub... BLOT), the thinner released the tar stains and the paper towels on the bottom wicked the thinner from the build sheet. You may have to repeat the process multiple times. Always replace the paper towels when repeating the process.
Test it on a corner / not the whole thing.
I tested on a corner and it worked great, then I tried a little where the printing was and it did not destroy the printing so then I went for it.
The build sheet was so stained that you could not make out anything that was on it, now everything is legible. It has been done for over a year and there has been no fading of the print or anything else.
This works great for tar but will not take out ANY RUST STAINS, If your floor was rusty and stined the sheet I do not know what to use... I have tried everything one that has rust stains.

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copo9566aa;

Thanks. Did the body number match the car? Isn't cool to find these bits of a cars history?

Greg Roberts

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68SS396;

Nice find. Another example of plant specific differences.

Greg Roberts

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Supercar_Kid and olredalert;

You are welcome. It came about as a product of my research. I cannot guarantee I am 100% right, but all the evidence fits.

On the 68 and 69 Novas the Fisher Body sheet does include the big block codes. Which is kind of odd. The Fisher sheet would only include RPO codes for options that the Fisher side had to worry about. Dual Exhaust required an extra mounting plate. Manual trans would require a hole in the hump. A console would require a mounting bracket. The hard and soft trim whether it was regular or deluxe. Custom options and SS trim also required Fisher work. I am not sure why the engine mattered to Fisher. In 1970 the Fisher sheet switched to a card tag and the RPO codes disappeared. In 1970 before the cards it looks like they dropped the Engine codes.

You are correct about the commonality of Fisher Sheets. 99.9 % of the sheets found in Novas are Fisher sheets. I have heard more about Chevrolet sheets on Chevelles and Camaros in that order.

The Chevrolet sheet is the ultimate find. It lists all the codes including the engine codes and suspension codes.

For everyone hunting for a build sheet, I wish you the best of luck. Send me copies if they are for a Nova…… https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/wink.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/wink.gif

Greg Roberts

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.......And the progress continues. Got alot done today. Fasinating paper work info going back and forth in this thread, keep learing new stuff every day.

ALbert

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And another

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Abert, Looks like your moving right along on your COPO resto. Really cool body lifting equipment. Is that a 4x4 bolted to the cowl???? Also like the body dolly. How long before your done so I can borrow that dolly for my 70 ragtop???? I think you and Bill Rose should be done with it after the COPO. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

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Hi Greg
Yes the body number match the car...
This is a Nova 6 Cyl VIN 113279W52.....
tag 11427 Bdy 47....
Fisher B Sheet 11427 Bdy 47....
GM preview a Box (12) for COPO and F & SO Stuff https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif

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Kevin, necessity od the mother of invention. Bill came up with this idea to lift the body and I made the dolly..also acts as a jig..pretty strong and uses the factory body mounts. You can borrow it when I am done...about this time next year https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/laugh.gif

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Always look under the dash as well. Found a complete broadcast sheet under the dash on my first L A built 69 z.

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my buddy found his build sheet on his l.a. ss-350 camaro on top of the gas tank about a month ago!!! low mile car, tank i guess was never pulled. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif